The promise of the internet was an open and free place where anyone could share and exchange ideas with anyone in any part of the world, instantaneously. While that ideal has largely played out, what most people failed to predict was how that information was going to be controlled and profited from.
The early internet was difficult and clunky to use. Browsers like Netscape and Internet Explorer allowed millions of people to get online easily. Companies like Geocities and AngelFire provided fairly simple ways to build a website while ICQ and AIM connected people directly through chat. But all of this was still mainly used by nerdy early adopters. What was needed was an even easier way to create and share content.
MySpace pioneered the field of “social media” but its infinite customization, while a great reflection of a user’s personality, led to a disjointed and confusing user experience. Facebook (originally The Facebook) entered the fray focused on college students with a standardized, easy-to-use product that included photos, status updates, and a social graph of friends and acquaintances.
Fast forward only a handful of years and Facebook is now one of the world’s largest companies by market capitalization and has over 2.8 billion people using at least one of their core products (Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, or Messenger) each month. This single company now essentially controls what information a good chunk of the world sees, from friend’s photos to news stories to advertisements, just to name a few.
Any company that grows to this size so quickly in an industry that hasn’t existed before is bound to make mistakes and Facebook has made some fabulous ones. At some point in their history, they had a choice about what kind of company they wanted to be. They could become good stewards of the internet’s information and customer data by building a robust ecosystem that encourages competition in their industry so that they can compete fairly. Or they could become a profit-seeking monopoly who only cares for their bottom line with little regard for the impact of their products on society as a whole. Unfortunately, they chose the latter.
In a healthy capitalist democracy, a company like this should be punished. But Facebook operates all across the globe and in many places that are neither capitalist nor democracies. Very few legislators even understand how Facebook works let alone know how to control it. And consumers can’t simply vote with their wallets because the product they use is “free.” The only real option is to stop using Facebook products altogether but for many people Facebook is the internet. It’s time to take back control.
For me, that starts today. As of a little over a month ago, I have deleted all of my Facebook product accounts (after downloading my data). I’ve long had a personal website and blog but dissemination has always been a challenge. Thankfully, I’m not the only individual or company frustrated with this state of affairs so many new ventures are sprouting up to change the way information is published and the business models around it. I have chosen to use Substack as my main tool going forward.
If you’ve made it this far you’re probably wondering why you received this in the first place and what it means. Well, you’re getting this email because you’re someone I’m close with or might have an interest in things I post. I’ll mostly be writing longer-form articles on a variety of topics every 1-2 weeks. But I’ll probably also post shorter updates, photos, and the like as well too. All of this will come directly to your inbox. If you don’t want to receive these anymore you can simply unsubscribe (I won’t be offended). Better yet, if you think others might find my ramblings interesting you can have them subscribe at kjbrazil.co.
I hope this new format proves to be enjoyable for both my readers and myself. Your feedback and criticisms are always welcome. I also hope it’s the start of new ways to share information online that brings us back to the original vision of the internet as a free, open, and globally connected place.
Onward and upwards for 2020.